I cried when I left the bank but not for the reasons I normally would! You see, it’s kind of a long story.When D got diagnosed with cancer we decided that we would do anything no matter what to fight this disease. We decided that we would never make a decision based on money and if that meant losing our jobs, our house, going bankrupt or losing everything- it just didn’t matter, nothing was as important as his life, our life together.There is a certain peace that settles in when you decide you’re not worried about something. We honestly never thought about money once during his treatment. We said yes to everything they suggested, he took every medication no matter how expensive. To be honest, I never even opened my mail (this is called burying your head in the sand!) I paid what I had to pay to keep the lights on, I shopped enough that we didn’t starve and that is about it. Unfortunately, these efforts weren’t enough and he passed away on April 28, 2009. All of a sudden, I HAD to deal with certain aspects of the money issue, his funeral cost over $10,000 and his headstone was $5000. Again, nothing was too good for my honey so I didn’t cut any corners and I did everything exactly the way I wanted it done. After that, I continued to keep my head buried in the sand. I didn’t have credit, use credit; I essentially fell off the grid completely. It is now over 3 years later and I am just starting to open my mail, address the issues I created during that time and start to think about the future. I call that progress, right?!I have been working for months to fix any outstanding items and work on my credit report, to bring my credit back from the dead. It is very difficult to get to a good score when you do not have any credit reporting for almost 5 years and nobody wants to give you credit because you have nothing to prove that you will pay (or even open their envelopes)I read an article about Utah First Credit Union and how they were helping people get back on their feet. I made the call and got an appointment with the Branch Manager. I went in fully expecting for them to pull up my credit, GASP! And then explain to me why they couldn’t help me. Instead, I was treated like a regular person. He opened an account for me, issued me a Credit Card and another loan to get me back on the grid. Good old fashioned customer service and trust! I was overwhelmed. A part of me died the day D passed away and I have been slowly trying to bring that part of me back. I had never thought about the role your credit score plays in your identity, until I realized how afraid I was of how they were going to treat me. So world… I am back (well almost), I am a normal(crazy) person with credit, who opens her mail and even automatically pays most bills online! But guess what; given the situation I would do things exactly the same way, just to know that we tried everything and that I was willing to lose everything I had for someone I love! What you need to learn from my story…Get Life & Health Insurance!!!!!!! Seriously! No matter how young you are, D was 42 when he passed away!Credit matters, it affects everything you do and the lack of it makes you feel like a 2nd class citizen.Things are just things; no amount of money is worth your life. Never put material things in front of your personal health or happiness. Oh, and did I say get INSURANCE!

Michelle Vongphakdy

8/30/2012 03:01:19 pm

My dad passed away when he was 41. He left my mom behind with 2 young adults and 2 young kids at home. He didn't have life insurance, but you can be sure that I've had it ever since and I make my sure my husband has it also. There's just too much at stake. Thanks for sharing this, Celeste. I'm glad that things are going well for you.